I’m quite excited about the day, but for reasons other than the beauty of nature, which I have done nothing but rave about so far. Santiago de Compostela is the final destination for hundreds of thousands of pilgrims each year walking the Camino de Santiago. If we’re to believe wikipedia, over 300,000 last year, so that would be over 1000 people per day in the warmer months. For more than 1000 years pilgrims have walked to the tomb of St James the Apostle, carrying a scallop shell and staff. Why you might ask? Well in short, in the 9th century a religious hermit Pelayo found the tomb of the apostle - James the Great. Once the news was confirmed by the local archbishop, the Asturian king, and later the Pope, the impact was instant and indelible. A flood of Christian Europeans began to head toward Compostela in search of salvation and it soon became the most important christian destination after Rome and Jerusalem. Its popularity i...
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